Teacher Alison

One of the nice things about teaching in the Summer Teaching Program last month is that I was observed by several different experienced teachers.  In addition to giving me feedback and suggestions about my teaching, they also did me the favor of taking some pictures of my classes.  It's the most I've ever seen myself in action as a teacher, so I thought I'd give you a peek.

Here's a Christmas lesson for a special holiday culture afternoon.  You can see on the board that I'm trying to help them differentiate Santa and Jesus, who occasionally get mixed up in the minds of those who only have a vague understanding of the origins of Christmas.

Here are a few shots from my own classroom this summer.  I love those moments when the class is engrossed in an activity and actually speaking all English. 

I have always had an interest in teaching and have loved it ever since first getting my feet wet as a teaching assistant at the University of Iowa.   I know that God has gifted me with a knack for teaching and hope that I can keep using that gift throughout my life.

Let me close with a couple all-time favorite teaching photos, taken by my friend Gloria when she visited me in Rizhao.

The Easter bunny and hang gliding, respectively.

A Lovely Last Day

I'm back in America but I'm lagging about a week behind in blogging.  If only for my own satisfaction, I plan to do a couple last posts about my time in Haiyuan and then close out the year with a big Chinglish finale.  (Stay tuned.)

Here we have my last full day in Haiyuan in all of its glorious glory.

First, a few local friends.  This was not my last day, but these ladies become important later.  They ran a dumpling shop just down the street from my hotel.  The first time I went there, we took a bunch of pictures and had a good time chatting, especially the 14-year-old working there.  I kept going back whenever I had time.  Here they are:

My last day in Haiyuan started with a closing ceremony with all of the teachers and officials.  We handed out the graduation certificates and said goodbye to our trainees.

After our closing ceremony, some of the teachers in my class invited me and my teammate to go hiking in the mountains.  I'd been praying for an opportunity like this!

It was so, so fun.  The air was delightfully fresh and scented with sage, the sky was blue, and the clouds were pleasantly plump.

Driving into the mountains

A trail we followed for awhile before going up the mountain

The climb begins.  Please note the watermelon.

Going higher.  Watermelon still in tow.

We hiked for an hour or two to reach a rock with a great view.  Watermelon-eating in progress.

Six of my trainees came out.  It was so fun to spend my last day with them!

This girl climbed in high-heeled sandals.

At our request, they took us on a long drive to see more countryside and stop in some villages.  Here is an old walled yard on a hill.

Riding some villager's tractor

Village school

Village school -- English class!  When we walked into this rural primary school in TheMiddleOfNowhere, Ningxia and saw the words, "Uncle," "Niece," and "Nephew" on the board, that's when I realized that English is truly an international language.

We stopped for a roadside picnic.  Here's the view.

Roadside picnic -- eating delicious fermented oats

Roadside picnic -- with noodles!

Village mosque

Village street

Village man

After our delightful day in the mountains, we rushed back for us foreign teachers to have a banquet with the officials.  Then I kicked my feet up in my hotel room after a very tiring month of work.

At 11:00 p.m., I heard knocking and giggling at my door.  I had no idea who it could be... someone drunk or confused, maybe?  The knocking continued and I opened the door to find...

The dumpling ladies!

The ladies from the dumpling shop heard we were leaving the next day and came after work to send me off with gifts and giggles.  I was so surprised.  I cleared a space for them on my messy bed and we hung out for awhile and took a bunch more photos.

I never told them where I was staying, but I'm sure everyone in town knew the foreigners were at the Haiyuan Hotel.  They came up to the third floor and just started knocking on doors (they woke up my teammates) until they found me.  Haha!  They brought bread for us to eat on the bus the next day (see above) and the gifts below:

Hand-embroidered insoles

Handmade pillow

And pantyhose!  Why?  Who knows!

All in all, it was a long and lovely day to end my stay in Haiyuan.

The Noodles of Haiyuan County

While in Ningxia, I embarked on a quest to photograph all the different varieties of noodles I ate.  With noodles for most lunches and a few suppers as well, I had many opportunities.  Here I present the Noodles of Haiyuan County:

Hui Mian

Saozi Mian (my favorite)

Some kind of noodles

The same noodles after adding beef and sauce

Chao Mian (fried noodles)

Liang Pi (cold noodles with broth, tofu, and slivered veggies)

Some kind of rice noodle or potato noodle

Not noodles -- dumpling soup!

Homemade dumplings

A local specialty: the stuff on the left is buckwheat flour mixed with water.  You dip little pinches of it in the sauce on the right and eat.

La Mian (pulled noodles)

The price range of these dishes was about 4 RMB to 20 RMB, with most around 10 RMB ($1.50).  Now that I'm back in the U.S., I'll be looking for local recommendations to get the same thing for cheap!

Fake KFC

The only Western restaurant in Haiyuan.  I'm laughing here.

Another Weekend Outing: ShaPoTou and Tong Xin

Our officials graciously planned another outing for us this Saturday.

We first went to a tourist site called "ShaPoTou" near the city of Zhongwei.  This is a place where tourists come to float down a branch of the Yellow River and play desert in the sand.  Like most Chinese tourist attractions, it was crowded, overpriced, and not very natural or authentic.  But we still had fun riding on camels (not me) and sliding down a sand dune (me!).  We were at a lower elevation than here and the sun was very strong.  It wasn't hard to imagine we were really trudging through the desert on the Silk Road hundreds of years ago.

After ShaPoTou, we stopped in the town of Tong Xin to see the Grand Mosque, a nice old building with a good view of the town.

Then we came home.  It was a long day, but still enjoyable to see more of Ningxia.  And the drives were just as beautiful as last week.

Drive-by scenery at 7:30 a.m.

Drive-by scenery, through the bus window

Drive-by scenery

At ShaPoTou.  River on the left and sand beyond.

Horses and camels

Sand sliding

I saw this guy lose a bunch of papers as he slid down.  I'm watching from the chairlift.

Beautiful view at the top

Looking down and ready to slide!  After buying a ticket and waiting in line, of course.

Tourists on a sheep-skin raft

Teammate Cara posing by an excellent display of "Chinese air-conditioning"

More country scenes -- corn and sunflowers

The Grand Mosque at Tong Xin

Sunset

View from the mosque

Dusk